In this Feb. 20, 1999 file photo, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, left, receives Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Wagah border near Lahore, Pakistan.
| Photo Credit: AP

Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif on May 28 admitted that Islamabad had “violated” an agreement with India signed by him and ex-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, in an apparent reference to the Kargil intrusion by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

“On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement…it was our fault,” Mr. Sharif told a meeting of the PML-N general council that elected him president of the ruling party six years after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court.

Also read | Vajpayee, Sharif spoke over phone in the midst of Kargil War, says book

Mr. Sharif and Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration on February 21, 1999, after a historic summit. The agreement that talked about a vision of peace and stability between the two countries signalled a major breakthrough, but a few months later Pakistani intrusion in the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir led to the Kargil War.

“President Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan $5 billion to stop it from carrying out nuclear tests but I refused. Had [former prime minister] Imran Khan like a person been on my seat he would have accepted Clinton’s offer,” Mr. Sharif said on a day when Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests.

Mr. Sharif (74) talked about how he was removed from the office of the prime minister in 2017 on a false case by then chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. He said all cases against him were false while the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder leader Imran Khan were true.

He also talked about the role of former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam in toppling his government in 2017 to bring Imran Khan into power. He asked Imran Khan to deny that he was not launched by the ISI.

“I ask Imran not to blame us [of being patronised by the army] and tell whether Gen Islam had talked about bringing the PTI into power,” he said and added Khan would sit at the feet of the military establishment.

The three-time premier talked about receiving a message from Gen Islam to resign from the office of Prime Minister [in 2014]. “When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me,” he said.

Mr. Sharif also praised his younger brother Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for standing by his side through thick and thin. “Efforts were made to create differences between us but Shehbaz remained loyal to me. Even Shehbaz was asked to become PM in the past and leave me but he declined,” he said.

Mr. Sharif said after assuming the office of the PML-N President he would renew efforts to strengthen the party.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. File Photo
| Photo Credit: AP

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would leave London for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to perform Umrah pilgrimage before returning to Pakistan next week, ending a four-year “self-imposed exile”, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said on Tuesday.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui told journalists that the PML-N supremo would perform Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) and spend time with his son Hussain Sharif during his stay in the Gulf Kingdom.

“I don’t have any reports of his meeting with the Royal family…But he will perform Umrah, spend time with his son … most of his stay would be in Medina,” Siddiqui said.

Also read |The rise and fall of Nawaz Sharif

He added that Sharif, 73, would leave for the UAE two days before his expected arrival in Pakistan on October 21. “He will rest there and is also expected to meet some party leaders.” When asked about the media reports that Sharif would visit China and Qatar, Siddiqui said no such trips were scheduled before October 21.

The PML-N senator rejected the impression that the party was changing its narrative ‘vote ko izzat do’ (honour the vote) by saying that Sharif never can never reject the narrative as it enjoys the support of the people.

“But let me tell you one thing, his speech would not be that of a conventional political leader. He will show the nation the path forward like a political visionary … and his speech will determine a new way for us,” Siddiqui said while talking about Sharif’s planned speech after landing in Lahore.

Sharif recently said that he is excited to return to Pakistan to lead his party in the election likely to be held in January 2024.

Earlier this month, Samaa TV reported that Sharif had booked a business class ticket on flight EY243 of Etihad Airways in advance. The Etihad Airways flight will land at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore at 6:25 p.m. on October 21.

Sharif stepped down as the country’s prime minister in 2017 after he was disqualified for life from holding public office by the Supreme Court for not declaring a receivable salary. He has been living in London since 2019 after the LHC granted him four-week permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatment.

He was serving a seven-year imprisonment at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Mills case before he was allowed to proceed to London in 2019 on “medical grounds”.

In 2020, an accountability court declared him a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicles case. He is also accused of obtaining luxury cars from the treasury house by paying just 15 per cent of the price of these vehicles.

He was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018.

There are question marks on his fate as he had already been declared as an absconder and could be arrested after coming to Pakistan.

However, the PML-N has planned to secure a protective bail so that he can address the rally before going to jail.